Task Force to Investigate the Abuse of the Vermont Orphanage

Burlington, Vt. – Vermont's highest law enforcement officials swore Monday to seek the truth about allegations of decades of physical, mental and sexual abuse and even murder at St. Joseph's Orphanage & Burlington, long since closed.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger told a press conference at Burlington Police Headquarters about 1.1 kilometers from the North Avenue building that police were forming a task force to investigate allegations, regardless of age. .

Police say they want to hear from former residents of St. Joseph now.

"These children were among the most vulnerable residents of our community and our community has failed to protect them," Weinberger said.

The announcement follows a recent article in Buzzfeed News that detailed the allegations of abuse at the orphanage, closed in 1974. The article contained allegations that a boy would be thrown out of prison. A window to his death, a girl forced to slap herself and children locked in an attic.

Many of the articles in the Buzzfeed article were reported by the Burlington Free Press in the 1990s. At one point, the Catholic Diocese of Burlington paid $ 5,000 to about 60 former residents to settle civil suits .

At the press conference, Donovan said the investigation would be difficult because many of the allegations were so old, but it is important to find the truth, even if no one is ever criminally prosecuted.

"Although there may be challenges, given the current state of our laws, we want to hear victims, we want to give voice to victims, we want to stand up for victims of abuse. who have suffered from the Catholic Church, not only here in our state, but across the country, "said Donovan.

The orphanage, which has operated for more than a century, was housed in the giant building of North Avenue Burlington, which became the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Burlington. It was later bought by the now-defunct Burlington College. The property is now being redeveloped into hundreds of housing units, a park and access to nearby Lake Champlain.

The Catholic Bishop of Vermont, Christopher Coyne, said Sunday that the diocese would cooperate with the investigation.

The initial charge of the task force, which will include the Burlington Police, the state police and the Chittenden County State Prosecutor, will be to investigate allegations of murder contained in Buzzfeed article.

Louise Piche, 73, who lived in Saint-Joseph in the late 1940s with a brother and sister for a short time while their mother was sick and their father was unable to care for them. they said that she had not been aware of any murders. People have spoken in the past about abuse, but they did not believe it, she said.

Piche, who attended the press conference on Monday and was involved in a civil settlement with the church in the 1990s following allegations of an orphanage, said she was regularly subjected to physical and mental abuse. would go to hell if they behaved badly.

"People were afraid to talk because they would be sentenced to life forever," said Mr. Piche, who now lives in Shelburne. "It's a belief that people can not understand who have not been there."